mx5cartalk.com

Quick back story: I'll be going for a drive soon, just a small one around the great big country we live in. I'll be taking lil red, so my storage area is going to be limited to about 1 cubic meter, which got me thinking about storage options.

I've been looking around, and things like this appeal to me greatly:


However being that I'll be on the road forever in a convertible, I'd like the option of not having to wear my hard top, but still to take it with me. I think that's the very definition of having your cake and eating it too.

While I was in the shower I decided that if I cut a car straight down from the windscreen, put a draw bar on the existing frame rails, it'd be perfect. Put my hard top on the trailer, and scoot along while getting sunburn. As Charlie Sheen would say: "Winning!"

But after looking at it, the rear wheels would be too far back, so any weight in the trailer would be hanging off the back of the car instead of being supported by the trailer. It would look cool, but be dangerous to drive.

So then my options include moving the wheels on the trailer forward, so the doors would be the wheel arches. BUT to have the trailer balanced would mean the wheels need to go about in line with the back firewall, which is a lot of fab work, or if i just cut the back of the car off too, and put the wheels squarely in the doors, they would be in about the middle, and I could still put my hard top on the trailer when it's not on the car.

Or, is there a much better way of taking a hard top on an extended journey that I'm not thinking of?

Buy a PRHT NC?

Is probably easier, cheaper, more legal, and more comfortable.

Isn't this the point of a soft top? Put it up when you don't want to be out in the elements, and then put it down when you want..

So leave the hard top at home and just use the soft top as it was designed.
If you don't have a soft top on the car then look to get one. Much much cheaper and easier than cutting a car in half to make a weird looking trailer.

Cus, how long before you go? I am working on a solution that may suit you, should be done in a week or two.

rascal wrote:Isn't this the point of a soft top? Put it up when you don't want to be out in the elements, and then put it down when you want..

So leave the hard top at home and just use the soft top as it was designed.
If you don't have a soft top on the car then look to get one. Much much cheaper and easier than cutting a car in half to make a weird looking trailer.

I agree.

The trailer is a cool idea, but to be honest I wouldn't want to tow much with an MX5 at all, DeBounce on the forums used to tow a tiny trailer with his NB and said it was fine, but it was maybe 150kg fully loaded.

Using the shell of an MX5 would be a fair bit heavier unless you used it to make a hollow fibreglass mould or something... in which case it's an incredibly expensive trailer.

Don't feel I'm trying to be mean about this, but if you have to take a trailer to take everything so you can drive the MX5, then you should just take another car.

So my actual suggestion to your problem is to figure out how you can take less stuff and fit it in the MX5 as is. In which case, hardtop with no softop is better, so you can fill the parcel shelf with stuff too. I also stick the space saver behind the passenger seat because Ruth isn't big enough for it to be uncomfortable. I'd happily put it behind my seat while driving even though it would put me a bit more forward if I had to, because I'm not really that big either. Space saver in the cabin enabled two suitcases in the boot and other small items stuffed around the edges.

Maybe its not possible to take as small an amount of stuff as is possible to fit in just the car for an all of Australia mission... its certainly an epic drive and would mean compromises. However for me driving the MX5 with a trailer attached defeats the purpose of taking the MX5 to drive those roads.

I'm jealous of doing a round the country drive... I really want to do that too. I at least want to drive over to Perth to visit my family there. To take a car up North though, I think I'd just rather take a Landcruiser...

you could do the spare wheel relocation giving you full boot area to use

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j ... GY&cad=rja

If you're concerned about the noise with the soft top IL Motorsport offer an upholstered liner for it. I'm sure that would make it quieter/better insulated.
Racelands do a nice stainless trunk rack for extra luggage.
I have roof rack for the soft top which I found used on yahoo Japan. It clips on the windscreen header and pivots on the Frankenstein bolts to put the top up and down. I haven't used it yet, but the brochure pic shows a luggage pod and a bicycle mounted on it.

Replying to all in reverse order, because reasons.

malibu Q: The hard top is just a better (to me) top for reasons listed below, but a roof rack sounds like an interesting idea though!

Red: good idea, I'll be doing that for sure.

slug_dub: It's an open-ended drive, I don't actually plan on coming back here, so I do need to take things like a swag, some basic camping gear and at least a small toolbox, which with just those items we're basically at capacity. Another car *is* an option, (It's a BA Wagon, perfect for camping in) but it handles like a wagon, and "I had a mid-life crisis and decided to drive around the country in a convertible" sounds far more mid-life-crisis-y than "in a wagon on gas" This may not be my best decision, but it's definitely not my worst.

greenltd: Not for a couple of months yet. I've just got past the decision stage and into the planning stage, so I'm interested to see what you come up with!

hks: I didn't think of the weight of the shell. I just presumed the middle bit would be light

rascal: I have a soft top, but the car feels better with the hard top on, and it's a bit quieter, and the car is more secure with the hard top when parked.

Jeo: You don't have epic adventures with "easy, legal, and comfortable." (You can get up to a fair amount of mischief with 'cheap' though)

Gasbagging with my uncle a motorbike trailer is probably what I need, I'll just look into a way of mounting the hard top to it when I don't want it on lil red. "No" is not an option here, in case it wasn't obvious by this point The plan being to mount it backwards on the trailer, so the rear window goes on the draw bar, and i put some kind of stone shield in front of it, and use it's latches to hold it down, given it's a hard top and comes with everything you need to keep it in place anyway, it's just a matter of attaching the latch-catches. Using the middle of an MX5 would have solved the mounting issue, but creates weight and engineering issues

It may be the "wrong" car for this kind of drive, but I'd rather have to stop, drop the trailer and come back and get it randomly than to just drive along an awesome bit of road in the middle of nowhere thinking "If only I had Lil Red...." - as amazing as it's going to be, regardless of the car I take, when I'm done, I doubt I'll ever do it again... but I have climbed Mt Warning just to watch the sun rise twice, so never underestimate my ability to do weird things for strange reasons....

I forgot too but Malibu reminded me... I have a bootbag too that straps down around the bootlid which is a good alternative if you don't want to mount a rack on your boot.

It sounds like you're set on the idea of a trailer and that's fair enough, especially with an open ended plan. I know what you mean about wishing you had your mx5 when you are on a road, and hate not to be in mine in those circumstances too.

An MX5 is not rated to tow.

Bruce, that's nice. Also, it's completely irrelevant.

From http://www.towingguide.com.au/content/l ... ments.html

Throughout Australia, the allowable maximum mass for the trailer is either the capacity of the tow vehicle’s towing attachment or the towing limit specified by the vehicle manufacturer for the towing vehicle, whichever is the least.
OR
If the vehicle’s manufacturer has not made a recommendation as to the towing mass, then the following rules apply:

A vehicle may tow a laden trailer of up to one and a half times the unladen mass of the tow vehicle, provided that the towbar is rated accordingly and the trailer is fitted with brakes that comply with the requirements stipulated in the Australian Design Rule ADR38.

If the trailer is not fitted with brakes, then the maximum mass must not exceed the unladen mass of the motor vehicle. The unladen mass of the vehicle can be found in the vehicle’s handbook, or check with your dealer.

All trailers with a GTM exceeding 750kgs must have brakes.

So as long as I stick to my original goal of about 500kg loaded, I'll be well under any legal limits, and within the handling capabilities of the MX5. It just means I'll have to take corners at the speeds recommended by those little yellow signs we all love to ignore in our roadsters.

slug_dub: If I could afford to stay in accommodation every night I'd be on the road already lol Sadly there is a budget, and it's not unlimited so having the trailer (even If it turns out I can't store my HT on it) is going to give me the best overall experience.

Well if you've got your heart set on going for a trailer here's an interesting discussion on the subject from over at the Mazdaspeed forums (Effectively NB SE only) in the US.

http://www.mazda-speed.com/forum2/index ... 122.0.html

As is so often the case on the US forums things get a bit heated but helps give you some insight into some of the issues you could be facing.

The other problem you may have is sourcing a towbar for your car, there were very few sold in Australia but they do come up occasionally in the for sale section.
The first post in the thread linked above lists suppliers of bars in the US but shipping + exchange rate would make this a pricey option!

Finally you will need to consider insurance.....
Given the owner's manual specifically excludes towing, check with your insurer what their position would be in the case of an accident. It would be bad enough if the worst happened and you lost the car/trailer with no compensation, but what if you did some significant damage to a third party's property in the process?

I don't understand the allure of touring in a lightweight nimble handling convertible when you're towing a trailer behind it...

This is the roof rack I have.


Seen Miata owners in the US towing small trailers with their toolbox and track tyres on them.
I'm sure you could do the same sort of thing, maybe you could mount HT brackets on it so it clipped on the same as the car.
Earlier when I read this post and saw that half car trailer, I was horrified.
Just don't do that.